8 Smartest Villains in Anime, Ranked

An anime becomes more interesting to watch when the villains have much more to offer than just strength. Their intellect as they try to take matters into their own hands adds depth to the show and adds a level of suspense for viewers, who are stunned when their plans are revealed.

The villains on this list have some of the most intellectual quotes and moments in their respective shows. They can effortlessly turn the tables on the protagonist and create additional challenges for them to overcome. Their deceit reaches new levels as they shock both the characters and the fans watching them.

8

Eren Yaeger

Attack on Titan

This episode contains spoilers for Attack on Titan. Don't read it if you haven't seen the fourth season of the anime.

Eren Yaeger became more cunning than anyone imagined in the Attack on Titan anime. Apparently he has the ability to see memories of the future and the past. To begin his plan, he uses these powers to brainwash his father into killing the royal family to claim the founding Titan and have young Eren injected with the Titan Serum.

Eren wanted to exterminate the Marleyans due to their constant injustice towards Paradis, and his plan led him to carry out the Rumbling, a mass genocidal event that would exterminate all life for the sake of the Eldians. He pretended to do greater good, but his beliefs were destructive in nature.

7

Gakushu Asano

Assassination Classroom

After striving to become an ideal teacher for his students, Gakushu abandoned his ways after their deaths. He began running his school with the idea of ​​”survival of the fittest”, which produced excellent students but at the cost of expelling weaker students.

Asano believed that marginalizing unqualified students and making them a mockery gives the geniuses motivation to reach greater heights. They feel a sense of superiority, which motivates them to do better, especially when they don't want to end up in a bad place. Asano also showed his intellect by challenging Koro Sensei to a battle of wits.

6

Fryodor Dostoyevsky

Bungou stray dogs

Fryodor Dostoyevsky is the smartest villain in Bungou Stray Dogs, a series teeming with some of the most intelligent characters in anime. Fryodor is known for his ability to come up with plans. He leaves hardly any holes in his strategies, as he has alternative plans ready should anything go wrong.

Fryordor wants to eradicate all ability users from this world, and to this end he takes to the path of evil, which he deems necessary. He does not seem to value his allies and treats them as tools required to succeed in his meticulous plans.

5

Shogo Makishima

Psycho Pass

Shogo Makishima hated the Sibyl System that ruled society in Psycho-Pass and the fact that it prevents people from following their free will. However, it seems he is obsessed with observing people's evil tendencies as well, which ends up causing more harm than good.

Shogo Makishima only appears in the first season of the anime.

He wanted people to be true to themselves, even commit murder if that is who they are as a person. Makishima died completely satisfied that Kogami killed him, showing the embodiment of the free will he envisioned. Shogo Makishima's philosophical quotes related to human nature are interesting throughout the anime.

4

Aizen

Whiten

Aizen is probably the smartest soul-repeating captain to grace Soul Society, except he ends up using his wits to commit atrocities. His evil self captures us as he portrays himself as a gentle captain who is often nice to Momo, the lieutenant who trusted him so much.

His intelligence made him question the ways of soul society and he ended up longing to kill the soul king to become the most powerful soul reaper, believing that he was the only one fit for that role. With his well-thought-out plans, Aizen seems to be one step ahead of those trying to thwart him.

3

Griffith

Berserk

Griffith is often revered as the most charismatic antagonist in anime, not only because of his looks but also because of his intellect and ability to hatch plans. He has also been shown to pull on people's psychological strings, such as when he injured Casca to show Guts his powerlessness.

Griffith is also shown to be strategic as he wins many battles as the supreme commander of the Midlands regular army. He is also shown to keep his cool and come up with counter-plans when the situation does not turn out as he expected.

2

Easy Yagami

Death Note

Light Yagami is an inspiring student. Unfortunately, his intelligence led him to develop a god complex, believing that he was the only one who could fix this world full of strife and injustice. He thought he had good intentions when he killed these criminals, except things escalated, and he ended up killing many people who tried to stand up to him.

Light proves to be a manipulator, as he leads a woman to reveal his name by building trust with her. He successfully throws L off his trail and kills the detective after several back-and-forth battles, showing Light's brain power.

1

Johan Liebert

Monster

Johan Liebert is shown to have some serious psychological issues as a child, and these shape him into the charismatic villain we know. He is shown to express strong nihilistic views and does not seem to see much value in life. He is quickly shown to get on everyone's good side due to his influential personality, but ends up using them to commit evil.

He tends to be sadistic and tries to hurt his victims indirectly until they stop killing themselves. Johan doesn't seem to have any particular reasons for his actions, and he sees nothing wrong with them, which makes his personality as a villain very cold.